Girl trafficked from Bangladesh, pushed into flesh trade

Thane: A 17-year-old girl from Bangladesh was allegedly sold and pushed into flesh trade in Thane, Mumbai and Bangalore, police said today.

The teenage girl, hailing from Muldhar village in Faridpur district of Bangladesh, has alleged in her complaint filed yesterday with Thane’s Kalwa police, that her friend’s acquaintance repeatedly raped her in April, while promising marriage at her native place, Sub-Inspector Sachin Ambre said.

In the same month, he sold her to agents (involved in trafficking) in Bangladesh who in-turn sold her to their counterparts in India, he said. The girl was subsequently brought to Maharashtra’s Thane district and pushed into flesh trade, he said. She was taken to customers at various places in Thane, Vashi in Navi Mumbai, Mumbai and Bangalore, he added.

The girl also alleged in her complaint that along with her a 25-year-old woman, from Joy Nagar in Murshidabad of West Bengal, was also pushed into prostitution and taken to customers at various places, the police officer said.

No arrest has been so far even as police have registered offences against eight persons, identified as Farhar Mulla, Tohibul, Kuduhus (all three hailing from Bangladesh), Salim, Ronny, Anjali, Arvind and Rahim in this connection.

They have been charged under sections 372 (selling minor for purposes of prostitution), 373 (buying minor for purposes of prostitution), 366(a), 370 (buying or disposing of any person as a slave), 370(a) and 376 (rape) of the IPC, sections 4 and 8 of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 and also sections 4, 5, 6 and 9 Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA), Ambre said, adding that efforts are on to nab them.

Police said they are trying to ascertain the amount for which the girl was sold.